This invention is related to a locking device for barricade structures for streets and highways, such as those barricades which comply with the requirements of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, and described more specifically in U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,250, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
The barricade described in the above-mentioned patent and barricades of generally similar design have for their main purpose to provide a warning on a street or highway while at the same time providing , reflective efficiency, durability and safety in the work area in case the barricade is struck by a fast moving vehicle. Often such barricades are positioned in a critical location for an extended period of time; and if the barricade is not weighted down with sand bags which by virtue of their weight and bulk can prove hazardous themselves, the barricade's stability can be compromised by the accumulating effects of the wind, particularly gusts from passing trucks, acting on the extended leg supports, so that the legs become gradually and incrementally shifted towards each other until ultimately the barricade falls over. Naturally, some kind of locking device on the barricade can be implemented to keep the legs apart. But this method only serves to maintain the legs in a permanently extended position; in case of impact the barricade does not collapse and therefore poses a grave danger if in its fully extended position it suddenly becomes airborne.